Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Taking advantage of the Godly Play Enrichment Day (see below), I was able to do several other things: visit my daughter, Lorna, and her family; spend an evening with a friend, David, who has recently suffered the bereavement of his wife; have lunch with my sister, Linda; and also preach at last Sunday's (25 June) morning service at Roxeth Green Free Church.

On Thursday, 22nd June, at London Diocesan House (C of E), I took part in a Godly Play Enrichment Day. There were about 60 people attending - mainly from Anglican and Methodist churches from various parts of the UK. I flew in from Spain especially to take part in the event, which, as well as being a one-day refresher course, also provided the requirements for re-accreditation as a Godly Play teacher.Apart from the introductory and concluding sessions, the rest of the time was spent in groups of about 15 participants. The Enrichment Day was planned around new stories that will shortly be published in volume 6 of the series The Complete Guide to Godly Play. Specifically, we were able to interact with the stories of Sarah, David and Isaiah and view prototype materials for these stories.The leaders and co-ordinators of the event were: Rebecca Nye, the director of empirical research for the global community of Godly Play, and senior researcher at the Faculty of Divinity, Cambridge University; Peter Privett, the Godly Play Regional Training Consultant for the UK and Europe; Cyndy Bishop, a Godly Play trainer who, before recently moving to the UK, was the director for Children’s Ministry for one of the largest churches in the USA; and Alison Seaman, an expert on the application of Godly Play to school RE.

Peter Privett presents the story of IsaiahPrototype material for the stories of Sarah, David & Isaiah

Sunday, June 04, 2006

On 18th May, I was invited to speak on the topic of 'Sunday School' at the CEEB Bible Institute, in Barcelona. The event was part of a series of seminars on the theme of Christian Education.

Seventeen people attended the seminar, representing churches in and around Barcelona. The contents of the seminar included:1) a summary of the origins of the Sunday School movement, a critical assessment of the 'school model' which many local churches have inherited, and a brief look at alternative models for church-based education.2) a review of recent investigations into Child Spirituality which, together with insights from Developmental Psychology and Theology, need to inform our work with children in the local church.3) a sample of Godly Play.

This last part consisted of a presentation of the Creation story (Genesis 1:1 - 2:3). Finally, the participants in the seminar were able to reflect creatively on this sacred story, through the typical Godly Play wondering questions, and draw connections to church-based educational practice.The concept of 'education' in Spanish also includes the notion of 'child rearing'. This is explicit in some of the other seminars in the programme organized by the CEEB Institute:

· Biblical principles in education· Moral education & discipline· The father's role in education· The mother's role in education· School education(Photos by courtesy of AGDE)